Many recent woes about the state of television have looked beyond the dreck of current programming and gone a bit more meta. In the age of Hulu, YouTube, and BitTorrent, is television still relevant?

One of the benefits of having a television, and by extension, cable, is the opportunity to watch live sporting events. Though attempts have been made to bring live sports broadcasting to the internet, a mass shift in audience has not yet happened, keeping television as the preferred way to catch the latest game.

All of this may change fairly soon, as Google has recently acquired the rights to stream live sports over YouTube.

If you are a fan of baseball, basketball, or football, the new, live sports feature may not yet appeal. Yes, YouTube may soon provide an alternative to ESPN, but the “sports” currently in question are at present limited to Indian Premier League cricket. Starting in March of this year, you can tune in to the latest test match, and maybe learn a thing or two about one of the most popular sports in the world (really).

Of course, if live cricket turns out to be a successful venture for Google, they may acquire the rights to stream other sports. As a huge baseball fan transplanted in Germany, I eagerly anticipate the day I can finally have something connecting me to my beloved Seattle Mariners other than my current internet sports indulgence: fantasy baseball.